


he will close his arms around you

by Aelig



Series: Bruce & Dick Week 2021 [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Tired Dad, Cuddles, Dick Grayson is Robin, Dick Grayson is a Troll, Earth-197, Fluff, Gen, dick grayson is a little shit, gratuitous fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29013780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelig/pseuds/Aelig
Summary: "Robin turned his gaze toward him, face incredibly serious.“B,” he said, his hand reaching out to tug at his cape. “B.”“Yes, chum?” Bruce turned his attention to his son to hear him out on whatever he was going to say next. It was probably important - he wouldn’t interrupt him while he was driving otherwise."OR: Robin has a very important demand.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: Bruce & Dick Week 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126436
Comments: 11
Kudos: 207
Collections: BruDick Week 2021





	he will close his arms around you

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! I hope you're all okay!!
> 
> I'm posting quickly bc i'm very tired right now lmao. This one was for the prompts "Sharing Body Heat" and "Inside the Batmobile"!
> 
> Thanks a lot to Lore for being my beta!! :smek:

The ride was strangely quiet despite Robin fidgeting every two seconds. At this point, Batman was waiting for the shoe to drop. Something was definitely coming, and for once he had no idea what or  _ why _ .

Patrol had been calm and uneventful. Nothing important enough happened that would have incited Robin’s sudden antsy comportment. And it was the same for their civilian life - Bruce could think of nothing to explain the lack of focus and the nervous energy. He couldn’t recall any tests or triggering events. Perhaps it was something a friend had texted to Robin? Maybe one of the other kid heroes was in danger? There were no important calendar dates coming up- or at least not to his knowledge.

They were approaching winter, now, the last days of autumn slowly fading away with the wind and the drop in temperature. They were used to it, of course - he could have been worried for his son if he hadn’t lived with him for four years now and proved more than once he resisted the change between seasons well. But when the wind and the casual fresh air outside were too much for Robin, he had no qualm with voicing his complaints. Tonight, he had been silent during patrol, so it was probably not the weather either.

Robin turned his gaze toward him, face incredibly serious.

“B,” he said, his hand reaching out to tug at his cape. “ _ B _ .”

“Yes, chum?” Bruce turned his attention to his son to hear him out on whatever he was going to say next. It was probably important - he wouldn’t interrupt him while he was driving otherwise.

“B. I’m  _ cold _ ,” whined Robin, and Batman nearly let go of the wheel in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m cold,” whined his son again. “So coooold.”

Bruce closed his eyes just the time to sigh and reconsidered all of his life choices. Here he was getting worried, and the only thing Dick had to offer to him was  _ that _ . What had he done to deserve this?

“It’s not really cold outside yet,” he tried.

“I nearly drowned in the harbor,” immediately answered Dick without missing a beat.

His uniform didn’t have a drop of water on it. Besides that, he hadn’t left Batman’s side during patrol. He wasn’t authorized to do so yet. Dick was still too young for this.

“Uh-uh.”

“If you don’t, like… cuddle me right now, I will freeze to death. It’ll be sad, but at least I will be with my parents. And yours. And my ghost will say to Alfred and Leslie that it’s your fault and they’re gonna be disappointed in you.”

_ Ah _ . So that was the reason behind this whole scheme, then.  _ Cuddles _ .

“You want to cuddle me to not freeze to death,” he repeated with every ounce of disbelief he had in his body.

Dick sighed like Bruce was the inattentive child in all of that. “ _ Yes _ , B. It’s called sharing his body heat, for, you know, fighting hypothermia.”

Dick was definitely not at risk for hypothermia.

… Probably.

He wasn’t, right?? He didn’t seem really cold, actually. Or wet like if he had indeed been into the harbor. His cheeks were a little pink, but that was probably because of excitement, right? There was nothing more to it. His skin didn’t even look cold. His lips weren’t turning blue either.

… But sometimes the symptoms could appear tardily. What if his son was really dying of hypothermia right now and he could help him but he wasn’t doing anything??

... Wait, no. Dick wasn’t actually dying. He was playing with his mind to have cuddles. That was all. Nothing more.

And Bruce was not about to let a twelve-year-old win over him. Nuh-uh. Wouldn’t happen. 

“And you’re sure there’s no other reason for you to ask for a hug?”

“First,” said Dick while raising a finger, “I said  _ cuddles _ , not hug. Hugs are not enough to fight hypothermia.” He sent a very judgmental look at Bruce before raising a second finger. “Two, if you don’t want to cuddle me, that’s fine. I’ll just die, then. I always knew I was meant to die young.” Dick let out a very dramatic sigh. “Any last words you want me to pass along to your parents?”

Bruce closed his eyes once again, resigned to his fate. After all, it was probably poor taste to send his son to his parents that early. He sighed.

“Alright,” he finally gave in, “C’mon over here.”

Dick cheered. 

Bruce put the Batmobile on autopilot - they were at ten minutes from home, now - and undid his safety belt. He did the same for his son before pulling him close, Dick compliant in his arms. He placed him on his lap, and Dick immediately snuggled against him, finding the best resting position in no time.

Bruce couldn’t help but love it. He closed his cape around his son, providing more warmth for him, and pressed a kiss at the top of his head.

“Feeling warmer, chum?”

Dick only hummed in answer, apparently deciding not to say more.

Bruce smiled softly.

He strapped his belt again, making sure it went over both him and his son. He hesitated to get back to driving, but - But just staying like that sounded nice, too.

Bruce closed his arms around his son, cradling him against his chest, and Dick let out a contented sigh. Bruce had to admit that he himself felt - safe. Calm. Almost ready for the night - he could already feel Dick’s breathing slowing down.

He almost wished for this moment to expand and not meet his ineluctable end - to never have an end. For it to just extend itself again and again, to infinity, for eternity.

(Bruce didn’t want to think about how Dick was bound to grow up, so much that he would probably not fit on his lap anymore, not want to be cradled against him anymore - how he would leave the nest, one day, hopefully still far away. For now - for now, he wanted to think that Dick would stay his baby forever.)

Absently, he carded his fingers through his son’s hair, slowly petting it and driving him further into Morpheus’s arms.

Bruce started to hum a lullaby under his breath, one he heard his mother sing to him, once upon a time. He couldn’t remember the lyrics precisely, but the melody came to him easily enough.

Dick was still snuggled between his chest and his cape. He seemed at peace, here.

Bruce was glad for it.

He fully relaxed, the stress of patrol and his everyday life slowly seeping out of his muscles. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the pillow seat, waiting for the Batcave to come into view or for sleep to take him away, without a care for which one would come first.

Everything important was already held right in his arms, anyway.

.

.

.

The car drove through the streets of Gotham, protecting in its heart a father and his son sleeping peacefully wrapped around one another.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!!
> 
> I don't know if i will be able to post tomorrow, my fic is only half-written osdho. We will see!!
> 
> Take care, love you all!! :heart:


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